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ometimes, words are not enough to convey the entirety of a person’s feelings, which explains the prominence of art in therapy. Regardless of a person’s artistic skills, art can be used as a form of alternative expression that a trained therapist can analyze to understand the person better than they could through a simple conversation. For example, in autistic children, art therapy has been shown to alleviate symptoms of overstimulation while redirecting formerly obsessive habits into a creative outlet. Often visual rather than verbal learners, autistic children can enjoy producing art without any societal pressure.
A common example of art being used in professional therapy is the HTP or House-Tree-Person test. In this personality test, a person is asked to draw a house, a tree, and a person from memory. A trained therapist can then examine their drawings and ask questions based off of what they see. The smallest detail can reveal potential aspects of the person’s personality, such as an oversized head suggesting a large ego. Of course, conclusions cannot be made from the drawings alone, so art is used in therapy more as a tool than a permanent solution.
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